CS Health understands that looking after your health and maintaining a healthy lifestyle as a mine worker can often be challenging.
Long hours, rotating shifts and panel rosters can result in any basic routine, healthy eating and regular exercise being thrown out the door. In fact, the industry today is facing an obesity epidemic, with over 83% of NSW coal miners classified as overweight or obese. Mental health and fatigue are other priority health issues for mine workers. Mental health issues affect one in five Australians annually, and fatigue is thought to be responsible for up to one in five car accidents.
It’s important to keep looking after your health. Please don’t hesitate to seek professional advice and support if you have questions or concerns about your health or the health of a friend or family member. Contact CS Health if you have any questions or would like to talk to a specialist occupational physician.
Alcohol and drugs
CS Health has been conducting drug and alcohol screening and education since 1996 and offers urine and oral fluid screening methods. They also provide assistance to updating company drug and alcohol policies on request. Advice regarding synthetic drug screening is also available.
Respiratory (lung) health
Repeated exposure to coal mine dust can put coal mine workers at risk of developing coal mine dust lung diseases (CMDLD). If you smoke or vape, your risk of developing a CMDLD is further increased.
Industrial deafness
Coal Services provides hearing protection fit testing, which tests how much noise reduction is being offered by different types of hearing protection, specific to an individual worker. Contact CS Health for more information.
Cardiovascular health
Common problems such as obesity and high blood pressure can lead to cardiovascular disease (CVD). The risk of CVD can be reduced by improving diet and increasing exercise, as well as reducing smoking and avoiding excessive alcohol consumption.
Diabetes
87 per cent of NSW coal mine workers are currently classified as overweight or obese. This means that a large number of workers are at risk of developing type 2 diabetes (and cardiovascular disease).
Maintaining a healthy weight
Rates of obesity continues to rise within Australia and the NSW Coal Mining Industry. Maintaining a healthy diet and making time for physical activity both play an important role in maintaining a healthy weight and looking after your health.
Mental health
Mental health is significant for the NSW coal industry because the lifestyle associated with mine work can pose specific challenges for mental wellbeing and family relationships. Miners need to navigate shift work, a male-dominated work culture and the cyclic nature of the coal mining industry.
Sleep and fatigue management
Fatigue and disrupted sleep are significant problems for night-shift workers, as their schedules go against the body’s natural rhythm. They are even bigger problems for people on short shift rotations, as the body needs several days to adjust to a new time structure.
